The Panthers broke a 4-4 tie in the first set to move out to 12-6 lead. Three straight service points by Alaina Frank gave EP an 18-12 advantage. The Lady Red Devils got within three 19-16 before the Lady Panthers went on a 6-1 run to win the set 25-17.
EP set the pace in the second set as they jumped out to an 8-4 on the strength of mid-court spike by Frank. Hall rallied to tie the contest at 9 before putting together a 5-0 run to take a 14-12 lead and forcing a Panther timeout. EP responded with a 4-0 run to take a 19-18 lead. Following a 19-19 tie EP went up 22-19 and got to set point at 24-22. Hall rallied to tie the battle at 24 before the Panthers closed it out getting a 26-24 win.
“We saw a lot of good things out of our squad against a scrappy Hall team,” said EP coach Rachel Bramm. ” We had a couple of lineup changes tonight, including the debut of freshman, Zoey Stuart, who played right side for us in this match. She did a great job tonight and provided a huge block against some of the Red Devils’ best attackers. We struggled at times in serve and pass, but all in all were able to lock it down to get the win tonight. We’ve got our first home victory under our belt now, and we’re ready to use this momentum to carry us into Thursday’s game against Newman.”
EP Stats
Alaina Frank: 7 kills (0.385), 4 aces, 8 digs
Ava Johnson: 8 kills, 1 block, 3 digs
Ellah Brooks: 19 digs
Lia Milem: 15 assists, 2 kills, 3 digs
EP (2-1) travels to Sterling on Thursday to take on Newman
